Melissa
by Starsister12
Summary: The Elric brothers find a mysterious place called the Mission House which cares for disabled children. There they meet a girl named Melissa who is confined to a wheelchair. Yet this paradise holds a deadly secret... Independent adventure in FMA timeline.
1. A Girl Called Melissa

Chapter 1

**_A Girl Called Melissa_**

"Al! Al! Good grief, where did he get off to now?"

Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, sighed in annoyance, gloved hands in fists on his hips, one foot tapping impatiently. "How hard could it be to find a seven-foot tall suit of armor in a meadow?" he muttered.

Actually, they were in the middle of a forest, but there was very little undergrowth and the trees were spaced apart from each other, giving the woods a garden-like feeling. But even with the trees, Alphonse Elric, Edward's younger brother, should have been easy to spot.

"Over here, brother!" came the slightly muffled voice of a young boy. A metal arm seemed to pop up out of the ground a slight distance away, waving.

"Don't tell me you sank again," fumed Ed, marching over to the arm. "We're not in the desert; we're in the _woods_, for crying out loud! If I have to—Yaaaaaaah!"

"Careful, Ed," said Al, deadpan, looking down at a tangled heap of red robes and black boots at the base of the small, sheer hummock. "There's a slight drop."

A mop of bright blond hair and blazing golden eyes emerged from the pile, a furious expression contorting Ed's now-beet-red face. "You could have _warned_ me—Ah, forget it. What're you up to over here?"

Al pointed. "Look."

Ed's gaze followed the direction of the metal finger, and stared. They were high on a grassy ridge, and down below in the center of a wide meadow was a large, white building. It was simplistic, but in an aesthetic and graceful kind of way. Slender columns held aloft ceilings over broad porches and paved patios. Wide windows, many of which were open to the warm spring air and framed with curtains, let light flow inside, dispelling any feelings of claustrophobia. Carefully tended flower and vegetable gardens and hedge rows dotted the landscape. In many spots there were small, ornamental ponds or tiny gardens of colored stones arranged in swirling, abstract patterns. A feeling of cleanliness and peace surrounded the building, giving it an almost holy feel. And, moving in and out of doorways, along the stone paths of the gardens, sitting on the patios, or looking out of the windows were the tiny figures of children.

"Wha-what_ is_ this place?" Ed asked, awestruck at this peaceful scene.

"That's why I called you over here," said Al. "I thought that you might know."

"Are you boys lost?"

Ed nearly leapt off the ridge in fright; Al just barely caught him by the nape of his robe and jerked him back. As soon as his feet were firmly on the ground, Ed whirled around, ready to give the intruder a piece of his mind.

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?!" he roared. "SNEAKING UP LIKE THAT, WE COULD HAVE BEEN—"

Suddenly, Ed got a good look at who he was yelling at and froze in the middle of his tirade.

It was a girl, about his age, sitting in a shining wheelchair. Her skin was very pale, making her wide, deep blue eyes stand out even more. Long, reddish hair hung down her back, her bangs framing her thin face. She was wearing a simple pale blue dress with long sleeves and thin matching slippers on her feet. Her head was cocked slightly to one side, like an inquisitive bird, and she didn't seem to be afraid of Al or of Ed's outburst. She was also strikingly pretty. Ed felt like sinking into the ground.

"Uh, hi," he said lamely. "Sorry about, er, yelling, you just…you just…"

"Scared you witless and forced you to assert your bravery and total control over the situation by biting the head off the perpetrator?" the girl inquired, a wicked grin flitting across her face.

"Yeah, something like that," Ed replied, his face still beet-red with embarrassment.

She laughed, a light, trilling sound. "That's alright, I really _shouldn't_ have come up unannounced like that. I'm Melissa Byron, by the way."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Byron," said Al. "I'm Alphonse Elric, Ed's younger brother."

"And I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," said Ed, regaining some of his poise with his title.

Melissa blinked. "Fullmetal? But shouldn't…oh, I get it. It's because you're stubborn, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so…Hey, you're the first person I think we've met who hasn't mixed up me and Al!" said Ed, feeling pleased.

"You get that a lot, huh?" Melissa said, nodding in sympathy. "And I'm just Melissa," she added to Al. "No need to be real formal here."

"Ok," said Al, inclining his helmet. "Melissa, can you tell us about that building down there? Neither Ed nor I have ever heard of anything like it out in these woods."

Her green eyes glowed with pleasure. "That's the Mission House," she said in a soft, admiring voice.

"What's a mission house?" Al asked.

"It's a place for orphans with disabilities, handicaps, and terminal illness," Melissa said. "For people like me who don't have anyone else, yet need some kind of basic care, especially medical treatments. The Mission House takes in kids like us from orphanages, foster homes, the streets…wherever they can find us. I think we have about two hundred people living here, and that doesn't include the Caretakers."

"Caretakers? Are they the ones who look after you?" asked Ed.

Melissa nodded. "Yes, they take care of us, give us lessons, clean up, tend the grounds, give medical treatments, and make sure everything runs smoothly. I don't know how many there are, we tend to get new ones a lot, some kind of rotation schedule, I think. But they are always very helpful and kind."

Ed blinked. He'd never heard of such a place before. "Who pays for all this?"

The girl was still for a moment, a slight frown on concentration on her face. Ed had the feeling that she was rifling through the pages of her memory for an answer. "I'm honestly not sure," she said finally, "though I think most of it is from private donations. I've never seen anyone from the state come here for inspections or anything like that." Her curious gaze slid to the Alchemist sign on Al's arm. "You two are the first state people I've ever seen."

Suddenly Ed's stomach gave an embarrassing reminder that it had not been fed in a while. Melissa grinned again as Ed's face began to match his coat once again.

"Are you two hungry?" she asked. "There's plenty of food at the Mission House; it's almost dinnertime, and we don't get to entertain guests very often. Would you like to join us?"

"We don't want to be any trouble…" Al began.

Another gentle smile lit her face. "It's no trouble at all. You can be my guests!"

"Thanks, we'd be delighted," said Ed, regaining his poise once more. "Lead on, Lady Byron."

Melissa deftly turned her shining wheelchair and smoothly rolled into the woods, Edward and Al following close behind her, the Mission House behind them gleaming with colors of fire in the rays of the setting sun.


	2. Warm Welcome

Chapter 2

_**Warm Welcome**_

"So, what's this Mission place, like, Melissa?" Ed asked as he and Al followed the young girl.

"It's very nice," Melissa answered, never ceasing to turn the wheels of her chair as she spoke. "The Caretakers attend to all our needs and there are all kinds of things to do. We have a very impressive library here, almost as good as the one in Central, or so I've heard."

"A library…" Ed looked thoughtful. Al suppressed a sigh. Sometimes his brother's devotion to finding the Philosopher's Stone could be exhausting.

"You're welcome to look around once we get there," Melissa added, hearing the thoughtful tone in Ed's voice. "I do hope the two of you will stay for a while."

"You don't get many visitors then, do you, Melissa?" Al asked curiously.

The girl shook her head. "No. If any of the children at the Mission House had family, then they would have come to claim us a long time ago. Since we have no families, no one comes here, unless they too have no where else to go."

"I'm sorry," Al said quietly, knowing all too well what it felt like to lose family.

Melissa just trilled out another one of her bright laughs. "No, don't be," she said. "As I said, it's very pleasant here. Sometimes I think we're better off here than we would be with our real families."

"Will the heads of this place be annoyed with a pair of strangers like us stopping by?" asked Ed. "We don't want to get you in trouble or anything…"

"Oh, I doubt anyone will mind," Melissa replied. "It'll be nice to hear some news of the outside world." She glanced over her shoulder at the brothers. "You'll have to tell me if our library really is a good as the one at Central."

Ed grinned. "Sure thing!"

Despite the grass, Melissa made good time in her wheelchair. They had to take a more roundabout route, however, one that traveled down a gently sloped hill to the meadow where the Mission House stood. By the time they reached the vast porticos and Grecian columns, the last light of the sun was disappearing behind the hills. Lamps cast warm golden light on their surroundings, and Melissa rolled smoothly up another ramp through the open doors, the two brothers hesitating for a moment, and then following her in.

The inside of the Mission House was just as pristine and smooth as the outside, and both Ed and Al felt a little overwhelmed and ill at ease, as if they'd stepped, dirty and travel-worn, into the sanctuary of a church. Melissa appeared unaware of their unease, swiftly rolling along the halls towards the enticing aroma of food. Ed quickly lost some of his concern at the mouth-watering smell of freshly-baked bread and roasted meat, but Al's nervousness only increased. How would Melissa or the other kids at the Mission House react when they saw that he didn't eat or that his armor was empty? The thought made him almost felt ill with worry.

Suddenly, a woman with short auburn hair pinned back in a bun and dressed in what looked like a modified version of a nurse's garb appeared from behind one of the columns. "Melissa," she said in a warm, gentle voice, "it's past the dinner hour. Where have you been?"

"Oh, Caretaker!" cried Melissa, blue eyes lighting up as she braked her chair. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was up on the ridge when I met these two young men!" She beamed at the brothers. "This is Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse. They're State Alchemists! Isn't that exciting? They seemed very tired and hungry, so I thought they could stay here for a while."

Ed couldn't be sure, but he thought that surprise and maybe fear flickered in the Caretaker's eyes, and her expression tightened just slightly. But then the Caretaker bowed, the shadows hiding her face. "Why, of course, Melissa. Travelers are rare in these parts, but they are always welcome here at the Mission House. Please, feel free to stay as long as you like."

"Thanks, ma'am," Ed replied. "Sorry to just drop in unannounced like this. We'll try not to get in anyone's way."

"Thank you for your consideration, young man," the Caretaker said. "All of you enjoy your dinner." With that, she turned and disappeared through one of the many doors along the hallway.

Melissa looked a bit puzzled. "Hmmm…I haven't seen her around before…she must be one of the newer Caretakers." With a shrug, she motioned for Ed and Al to follow her. "Come on, the dining hall is just this way!"

Ed and Al glanced at one another. Melissa may have been open and welcoming, but the brothers had a sudden feeling that the Caretakers of the Mission House would not take kindly to their presence.

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End file.
